While most parents are wrestling with whether or not to buy their kids the latest iPhone, a Canadian family is more concerned about finding good cassette tapes to listen to.

Blair McMillan and his girlfriend Morgan are raising young Trey. Blair got the idea to ban new technology from the household after little Trey became too obsessed with an iPad to go and play outside with his dad. So now the family draws the line at any technology created after 1986, the year Blair and his girlfriend were born.

"We're parenting our kids the same way we were parented for a year just to see what it's like," dad Blair told Sun News. They plan to live la vida Luddite until April next year.

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Despite a somewhat rough transition period involving Facebook withdrawal and phantom cell phone vibrations, the family seems to have settled in well.

They have gotten used to harnessing older methods of getting things done. An encyclopedia set replaces Google. Physical maps replace GPS. Books and outdoor activities are the primary sources of entertainment.

With no cable, Internet, tablets, or smartphones to distract the family, they are spending more time talking together. It all sounds a bit blissful. Would you consider instituting a similar ban at your house?

About the author

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET's Crave blog. When not wallowing in weird gadgets and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
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